SCO has started invoicing Linux users that it claims are illegally using copied Unix code.
There are many who would consider that it is worth paying SCO’s license fee to ensure that they are protected from copyright infringement litigation. However, at $700 per CPU, and with IT budgets severely restricted, SCO’s Intellectual Property License For Linux is not cheap, and many companies will want to know exactly what they are getting for their money. The answer is not a lot, apart from protection against being sued by SCO.
The license also allows the possibility of being audited at SCO’s expense to ensure that the user has been truthful about the number of Linux installations it has. Should the audit reveal that the user has underpaid SCO by 5% or $5,000, whichever is highest, the user also agrees to pay the price for the audit.
If a user agrees with SCO’s claims that its Unix code has been passed into Linux, and that it deserves compensation, then these terms are probably agreeable. Yet many dispute SCO’s claims, which are yet to be tested in a court of law, and are unlikely to be until 2005 in the case of the company’s suit against IBM [IBM].
While the amount of evidence revealed by SCO is not great, it does appear that it may have a case against IBM and other Unix licensees, particularly given the strength of the Unix licensing agreements passed down to SCO from AT&T [T].
SCO’s contracts are a powerful weapon against IBM and others, but there remain questions as to whether the company can prove its arguments in a court of law. The company has now shown that it is prepared to expedite the legal process in order to convince Linux users that they need to acquire a license for its code.
The company has also indicated, however, that should it lose such a case, there are no provisions for refunding IP license fees. Therefore, the best advice for any Linux user must be to take legal advice and then decide whether the license fee is worth paying, or whether its worth taking a chance on SCO’s allegations being disproved.
Source: Computerwire/Datamonitor
Recommended research: Reuters Business Insight, The Linux and Open Source Outlook (RBTC0064)
